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“Royal Mail did not follow the law on direct marketing when it sent such a huge volume of emails, because the recipients had already clearly expressed they did not want to receive them," said ICO head of enforcement, Steve Eckersley.

“These rules are there for a reason - to protect people from the irritation and, on occasions, distress nuisance emails cause. I hope this sends the message that we will take action against companies who flout them.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We take the privacy of our customers extremely seriously. We are very sorry that we let some of our customers down on this occasion. Following this incident, we have tightened up our processes and governance measures still further. We are also launching additional training for colleagues.”